Welcome to the Aleph Sector Campaign blog, Sheffield University Wargames Society's narrative based campaign set in Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 universe.
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Sunday, February 28, 2010

War on Corticant

Just one week after General Veers had thought the base on Corticant secure, a new offensive by Chaos forces from the arid zone in the south made him realise that the Claws of Lorek and their allies had not, as thought, abandonned the planet. Attacking in three prongs the forces of Chaos assaulted the settlements of Corticant once again, with the Claws themselves leading the main charge against Fort Bastion. Daemons were once again summoned and flung against the civilian townships in the west of the habitable region, while the southernmost town of Ironhaven was attacked by the Anticross.

The assaults came as something of a surprise to Veers, who had underestimated the forces that the traitors had managed to land on the planet, though their use of daemons once again showed that while the Claws were now the dominant force in the region, they did not have access to the vast numbers of men or the fleets of Traegen, Shaidar Haran and Thok... Yet. Even so Admiral Jellicoe detatched a battlegroup to search for Chaos ships in the Corticant system. Despite searching for over a week the Chaos vessels remained elusive.

Despite his surprise the General was able to mobilise much of Battlegroup Apocalypse against the foe, with significant aid from the attached companies of Space Marines. The main thrust in the centre was countered by the Space Wolves, who after a determined fight forced the Claws of Lorek to retreat. In the west the Daemonic horde routed a company of Reaper Angels but suffered badly to a determined stand from Cerberex Guard units. The Cerberex Guard, again eager to fight the forces of the dark gods, proved their worth and forced the daemons back into the wilderness where they mercilessly pursued their foe into the badlands. Special dispensation was granted to these veteran Chaos fighters so that they would avoid the usual fate of those fighting against daemons, but an Inquisitor assigned himself to monitor all units coming into contact with daemons to ensure the purity of the mens' souls.

In the south west the Anticross suffered a surprise attack from the Dark Angels as they approached Ironhaven. In a hopelessly one sided battle the forces of the Anticross were badly mauled by the highly manouvreable Dark Angels forces and were soon retreating along with the Claws of Lorek. With the Chaos forces on the run General Veers sent in a regiment of Porphyrians to prevent them from escaping once again into the southern badlands. Initially it seemed the Porphyrians would overtake the fleeing Chaos forces and destroy them utterly, but the Claws put up a ferocious rear guard action which eventually broke the Porphyrian's lead elements, allowing the remaining forces to flee south.

Once the dust had settled General Veers ordered several Guard Regiments to scour the northern edge of the widlerness, searching for stragglers and destroying any remaining daemonic taint, aided by an Inquisitor from the Ordo Malleus, and several representatives from the Ecclesiarchy. In addition round the clock aerial reconnaisance was ordered over much of the planet's surface, as well as scans from space. However, Veers knew that until Jellicoe's secured the system they could not guarantee that the Chaos forces would not attack again, nor could they prevent further Chaos forces from arriving. However Veers also knew that to tie several capital ships to the system for defence would be to defeat the point of setting up the base in the first place. Corticant was a base from which Imperial power could be projected into the Deeps. Knowing this, Veers began to talk to the Imperial Navy in order to secure permanent system defences such as minefields, gun platforms and monitor defence vessels.